What Needs To Be Swept Away?

The bridge felt strong as I crossed,
Before the winds took it, and you.
Why did you wait there on the cliff
Watching me make my way alone?
Why didn’t you join me on the bridge
Crossing with me before the wind?
Now I sit looking back at you
Across the divide, with no way back,
And you, lost to me, as though
Blown by the wind into the void.
I see your camp and the others
Who have joined you at the edge
Of your life, singing the same
Songs we sang in our youth,
Gathered near the fire,
Safe from the dark and the wind.
I waited for you to throw me a rope,
To build a new bridge, to join me.
Can’t you see me here in the mists,
Waiting and watching in the wind?
I carry still the bag we packed,
Stuffed with stories we wrote
Together, a pack full of names
With no faces, dead friendships,
Our only belongings. I offer them
To the wind, their weight too heavy
For me to carry alone.
Let the mists rise, fill the gap
Between us. I cannot wait here
Standing alone against the wind,
Watching you warm yourself,
Laughing, bridge forgotten,
Me forgotten in the mist.
I must walk on with no guide—
no pack, no name, no stories—
Walking into the mystery of life.
No past, no path, just wind.